Stewart Starting out on Drums
CD: What's the earliest musical memory from your universe?
SC: Wishing I could participate in the da'ebki, kind of a dance of Greek descent that is still
performed in the Bakaa valley of Lebanon. Arabic music is very much on the downbeat, it's sort of
like reggae in many ways; much of our Police rhythm has been described as West Indian inspired
when, in fact, it has been more Middle East inspired; but the West Indian influence is there too,
picked up from when I was in England - lots of it there on the radio when I was in school. I'm an
ethno-music buff, listen to a lot of it. I like Indian music and Balinese music, but it's more
intellectual stuff. It's very difficult to assimilate those and apply the inspiration to Western music.
If you try to establish too direct a link, it sounds corny. I don't practice them; I just appreciate
them.
CD: Who were your early drum influences?
SC: Mitch Mitchell. Joe Morello. I suppose I'd have to mention Hussim Akbar, the local (Beirut)
hotshot. My father brought me up on Buddy Rich; musically, my background at home was big
band jazz from my father and Stravinsky from my mother. In England my father played trumpet
with the pre-war Tommy Dorsey Band and the wartime Glenn Miller Orchestra. I would like to
think that I swing rather than rock.
CD: Any current influences ? Favourite drummers?
SC: No, as a matter of fact, there isn't that much inspiring out there. There are some people who
are quite good but no real groundbreakers like Billy Cobham was in his day. I do listen to a lot of
popular music and jazz.
CD: Who was your first drum teacher?
SC: An Armenian guy, who was a house drummer in Beirut. Later Max Abrams in England. I had
lots of teachers in school who taught me rudiments and all that stuff, which is all well-learned
and has really done me a lot of good. Although I am basically an instinctive player and not
impressed by technique at least I have the technique to back myself up; I'm not limited by my
chops.
CD: So you know how to read music and would recommend that upcoming drummers learn how too?
SC: Yes. Reading is useful for earning a living, but is not really directly related to the talent.
CD: In your school-day bands, what son of music did you play? What tunes did you cover?
SC: Heavy metal. Hendrix, Hendrix, and Hendrix. I hated the Bee Gees and the Grateful Dead;
Jefferson Airplane made me nauseous. I hated just about everything except Hendrix, Cream, and
the Doors. I quite liked the Monkees; I liked the Beatles. The Stones? I liked about one tune out
of five, but that one tune was always great. They're sort of institutionalized now; I mean,
whenever I hear a Stones tune on the radio, I may be bored by them, but it's still kind of a
welcome home.
An interview with Charles Doherty: May, 1984 issue of Downbeat magazine
In the early days Stewart was influenced by Ginger Baker for his animal sound, Buddy Rich
because his Dad liked him, and Mitch Mitchell who inspired most of the young Copeland licks at
that time.
August, 1983 issue of Music UK magazine
"My first goes on a drumset were all swing. I would suppose that the contact I have with the
West is swing. I would describe myself as a drummer who swings rather than one who rocks. My
first drum teacher was an Armenian who played in a hotel jazz band. Beirut is, or was, before it
got blown up, like the Switzerland of the Arab world where people could come and drink and
spend their money and live the wild life. It always had a kind of decadent atmosphere and it had
these bands playing in these hotels and my first teacher was one of those. My father spotted him
and he seemed good and he arranged lessons with him. He taught me how to hold drum sticks
and how to do a paradiddle and how to read."
October, 1982 Modern Drummer
What's it like to be in the womb again?
